Seychelles: Indian Ocean Marine Biodiversity Survey

as part of Shoals of Capricorn Programme

Benthic Biodiversity

Over the last 10 years NMGW has been heavily involved in assessing the seabed (benthic) life off the Welsh coastline. Further information can be found on the Irish Sea Survey information on BioSyB's web page.

The evidence from our scientific publications is that certain temperate areas (particularly the offshore gravelly sediments) support very diverse invertebrate assemblages.

This is different from many studies which generally state that there is less diversity in shelf benthos than that of the deep-sea and tropical areas. Consequently, the Shoals of Capricorn expedition provides an ideal opportunity to obtain, and directly compare, tropical benthic diversity with that of our temperate water studies.

In AD 75, the Romans built a fortress at Caerleon that would guard the region for over 200 years. Today at the National Roman Legion Museum you can learn what made the Romans a formidable force and how life wouldn't be the same without them.